U.S. patent number 11,052,399 [Application Number 15/834,081] was granted by the patent office on 2021-07-06 for powder gathering apparatus.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Elite Material Co., Ltd.. The grantee listed for this patent is Elite Material Co., Ltd.. Invention is credited to Hui-Ting Shih.
United States Patent |
11,052,399 |
Shih |
July 6, 2021 |
Powder gathering apparatus
Abstract
A powder gathering apparatus includes at least two rotating
plates and a driving mechanism. The at least two rotating plates
are disposed with respect to each other. Each of the rotating
plates includes at least one spherical member. The at least one
spherical member protrudes from the rotating plate. The driving
mechanism drives at least one of the at least two rotating plates
to move, such that the at least two rotating plates get close to or
away from each other. The driving mechanism drives the at least two
rotating plates to rotate.
Inventors: |
Shih; Hui-Ting (Taoyuan,
TW) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Elite Material Co., Ltd. |
Taoyuan |
N/A |
TW |
|
|
Assignee: |
Elite Material Co., Ltd.
(Taoyuan, TW)
|
Family
ID: |
1000005662665 |
Appl.
No.: |
15/834,081 |
Filed: |
December 7, 2017 |
Prior Publication Data
|
|
|
|
Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
|
US 20190143335 A1 |
May 16, 2019 |
|
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
Nov 10, 2017 [TW] |
|
|
106138877 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B02C
7/14 (20130101); B02C 23/10 (20130101); B02C
7/12 (20130101); B02C 23/20 (20130101); B02C
7/02 (20130101); H05K 3/22 (20130101); H05K
2203/0195 (20130101); H05K 2203/178 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B02C
7/02 (20060101); B02C 7/14 (20060101); B02C
7/12 (20060101); B02C 23/20 (20060101); B02C
23/10 (20060101); H05K 3/22 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;451/261,262,278 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Eiseman; Adam J
Assistant Examiner: London; Stephen Floyd
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Hsu; Winston
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A powder gathering apparatus comprising: at least two rotating
plates disposed with respect to each other, each of the rotating
plates comprising two plate bodies, a plurality of rails and a
plurality of spherical members, the spherical members being
rotatably sandwiched in between the two plate bodies and protruding
from the rotating plate, each of the rails comprising at least one
of the spherical members, the rails being concentric and circular
rails with different sizes and arranged from inside to outside; a
driving mechanism driving at least one of the at least two rotating
plates to move, such that the at least two rotating plates get
close to or away from each other, the driving mechanism driving the
at least two rotating plates to rotate; a powder container disposed
below a prepreg or a copper-free laminate between the at least two
rotating plates; and a sieve disposed in the powder container, the
sieve being located directly below and parallel to the at least two
rotating plates.
2. The powder gathering apparatus of claim 1, wherein a rotating
shaft of each rotating plate is perpendicular to a plane when the
powder gathering apparatus is disposed on the plane.
3. The powder gathering apparatus of claim 1, further comprising at
least two support bases, the at least two support bases being
disposed with respect to each other, each of the rotating plates
being disposed on one of the at least two support bases.
4. The powder gathering apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the
rotating plates comprises at least one fixing member and the at
least one fixing member fixes the at least one spherical member on
the rotating plate.
5. The powder gathering apparatus of claim 1, wherein the driving
mechanism drives each of the rails to rotate clockwise.
6. The powder gathering apparatus of claim 5, wherein rotating
directions of the rails are identical.
7. The powder gathering apparatus of claim 5, wherein rotating
directions of the rails are different.
8. The powder gathering apparatus of claim 1, wherein the driving
mechanism drives each of the rails to rotate counterclockwise.
9. The powder gathering apparatus of claim 8, wherein rotating
directions of the rails are identical.
10. The powder gathering apparatus of claim 8, wherein rotating
directions of the rails are different.
11. The powder gathering apparatus of claim 1, wherein the rails of
the at least two rotating plates correspond to or are staggered
with each other.
12. The powder gathering apparatus of claim 1, wherein the driving
mechanism comprises a plurality of rollers and each of the rails is
driven to rotate by at least two of the rollers.
13. The powder gathering apparatus of claim 1, wherein a material
of the at least one spherical member is stainless steel, iron or
zirconia.
14. The powder gathering apparatus of claim 1, configured to gather
powders from the prepreg or the copper free laminate.
15. The powder gathering apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a
hanging mechanism, the hanging mechanism being configured to hang
the prepreg or the copper-free laminate between the at least two
rotating plates.
16. The powder gathering apparatus of claim 1, further comprising
an air drawing mechanism, the air drawing mechanism being disposed
in the powder container.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a powder gathering apparatus and, more
particularly, to a powder gathering apparatus configured to gather
powders from a prepreg or a copper-free laminate.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A copper clad laminate and a prepreg are raw materials for
manufacturing a printed circuit board (PCB), wherein the prepreg is
made by impregnating a reinforcing fiber fabric with a resin
composition and then curing the resin composition to form a B-stage
prepreg. The copper clad laminate is made by stacking and
laminating two copper foils with at least one B-stage prepreg under
vacuum, high temperature and high pressure conditions.
Consequently, the resin composition is cured to form an insulating
layer, also called C-stage, of the copper clad laminate.
When manufacturing the prepreg, the conversion rate of the resin
composition in B-stage needs to be inspected, so as to estimate the
characteristic of the prepreg. In the prior art, the prepreg is
rubbed manually to make the B-stage resin composition come off the
prepreg to obtain B-stage powders. As to the copper-free laminate,
the prior art etches the copper foil outside the copper clad
laminate first and then uses a blade to scrape the C-stage resin
composition from the surface of the copper-free laminate to obtain
C-stage powders. After gathering the B-stage or C-stage powders,
the prior art can inspect the characteristic of the powders by
specific equipment accordingly. The aforesaid manners of gathering
powders from the prepreg or the copper-free laminate waste much
manpower and cannot gather powders efficiently. Therefore, how to
gather powders from the prepreg or the copper-free laminate
automatically and efficiently becomes a significant issue.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An objective of the invention is to provide a powder gathering
apparatus configured to gather powders from a prepreg or a
copper-free laminate, so as to solve the aforesaid problems.
According to the claimed invention, a powder gathering apparatus
comprises at least two rotating plates disposed with respect to
each other, each of the rotating plates comprising at least one
spherical member, the at least one spherical member protruding from
the rotating plate; and a driving mechanism driving at least one of
the at least two rotating plates to move, such that the at least
two rotating plates get close to or away from each other, the
driving mechanism driving the at least two rotating plates to
rotate. The driving mechanism comprises at least one component
capable of implementing the aforesaid function, such as, but not
limited to, control unit, control rod, motor, gear, driving belt,
roller (e.g. wheel), or the combination thereof. The driving
mechanism of the invention may comprise two or more than two types
of driving devices for implementing different driving functions,
wherein the driving device may be any conventional driving device
and it will not be depicted herein.
According to the claimed invention, the driving device may comprise
at least one driving module.
According to the claimed invention, the driving device may comprise
at least one driving module, such as, but not limited to, two,
three or four types of driving modules.
According to the claimed invention, a rotating shaft of each
rotating plate is perpendicular or parallel to a plane when the
powder gathering apparatus is disposed on the plane.
According to the claimed invention, the powder gathering apparatus
further comprises at least two support bases, the at least two
support bases are disposed with respect to each other, each of the
rotating plates is disposed on one of the at least two support
bases.
According to the claimed invention, each of the rotating plates
comprises two plate bodies and the at least one spherical member is
rotatably sandwiched in between the two plate bodies.
According to the claimed invention, each of the rotating plates
comprises at least one fixing member and the at least one fixing
member fixes the at least one spherical member on the rotating
plate.
According to the claimed invention, a surface of the at least one
spherical member is smooth or rough.
According to the claimed invention, each of the rotating plates
comprises a plurality of rails and a plurality of spherical members
and each of the rails comprises at least one of the spherical
members.
According to the claimed invention, each of the rotating plates may
further comprise at least one hole selectively.
According to the claimed invention, each of the rails may further
comprise at least one hole selectively.
According to the claimed invention, at least one protruding surface
of the spherical member of each rotating plate contacts a
sample.
According to the claimed invention, the driving mechanism drives
each of the rails to rotate clockwise or counterclockwise.
According to the claimed invention, rotating directions of the
rails are identical or different.
According to the claimed invention, the rails are concentric
rails.
According to the claimed invention, the rails are circular.
According to the claimed invention, the rails of the at least two
rotating plates correspond to or are staggered with each other.
According to the claimed invention, the driving mechanism comprises
a plurality of rollers and each of the rails is driven to rotate by
at least two of the rollers.
According to the claimed invention, a material of the at least one
spherical member is stainless steel, iron or zirconia.
According to the claimed invention, the powder gathering apparatus
is configured to gather powders from a prepreg or a copper-free
laminate.
According to the claimed invention, the powder gathering apparatus
further comprises a hanging mechanism, the hanging mechanism is
configured to hang a prepreg or a copper-free laminate between the
at least two rotating plates.
According to the claimed invention, the powder gathering apparatus
further comprises a sieve and a powder container, the sieve is
disposed in the powder container, the powder container is disposed
below the prepreg or the copper-free laminate.
According to the claimed invention, the powder gathering apparatus
further comprises an air drawing mechanism, the air drawing
mechanism being disposed in the powder container.
As mentioned in the above, the driving mechanism of the powder
gathering apparatus of the invention can drive the rotating plates
to get close to each other, so as to clamp the prepreg or the
copper-free laminate between the rotating plates. Then, the driving
mechanism can drive the rotating plates to rotate, such that the
spherical members of the rotating plates rub the prepreg or the
copper-free laminate to obtain powders from the prepreg or the
copper-free laminate. Accordingly, the powder gathering apparatus
of the invention can gather powders from the prepreg or the
copper-free laminate automatically and efficiently. Therefore, the
invention can save manpower effectively and gather powders
efficiently.
These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt
become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading
the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that
is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating a powder gathering
apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention, wherein two
rotating plates get away from each other.
FIG. 2 is a schematic view illustrating the rotating plates shown
in FIG. 1 getting close to each other.
FIG. 3 is a top view illustrating the rotating plates shown in FIG.
1.
FIG. 4 is a side view illustrating the rotating plates shown in
FIG. 1.
FIG. 5 is schematic view illustrating a powder gathering apparatus
according to another embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 6 is a side view illustrating the rotating plates according to
another embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 7 is a top view illustrating the rotating plates according to
another embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 8 is a side view illustrating the spherical members of the
rotating plates shown in FIG. 7 being staggered with each
other.
FIG. 9 is a schematic view illustrating a powder gathering
apparatus according to another embodiment of the invention, wherein
two rotating plates get away from each other.
FIG. 10 is a schematic view illustrating the rotating plates shown
in FIG. 9 getting close to each other.
FIG. 11 is a top view illustrating four rotating plates according
to another embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 12 is a schematic view illustrating a powder gathering
apparatus according to another embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In the invention, the term "a" or "an" is employed to describe
elements and components described herein. This is done merely for
convenience and to give a general sense of the scope of the
invention. This description should be read to include one or at
least one and the singular also includes the plural unless it is
obvious that it is meant otherwise.
In the description, the term "comprise", "include", "have" and any
variations thereof are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion,
such that a component, structure, product, or apparatus that
comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to those
elements, but may include other elements not expressly listed or
inherent to such component, structure, product, or apparatus.
Further, unless expressly stated to the contrary, "or" refers to an
inclusive "or" and not to an exclusive "or".
Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4, FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating
a powder gathering apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the
invention, wherein two rotating plates 10a, 10b get away from each
other, FIG. 2 is a schematic view illustrating the rotating plates
10a, 10b shown in FIG. 1 getting close to each other, FIG. 3 is a
top view illustrating the rotating plates 10a, 10b shown in FIG. 1,
and FIG. 4 is a side view illustrating the rotating plates 10a, 10b
shown in FIG. 1.
As shown in FIG. 1, the powder gathering apparatus 1 comprises at
least two rotating plates 10a, 10b, a driving mechanism 12, at
least two support bases 14a, 14b, a sieve 16, a powder container 18
and an air drawing mechanism 20. It should be noted that FIGS. 1
and 2 illustrate two rotating plates and two support bases for
describing the features of the invention and the invention is not
limited to the embodiment. The invention may dispose more than two
rotating plates and more than two support bases according to
practical applications.
The support bases 14a, 14b are disposed with respect to each other
and each of the rotating plates 10a, 10b is disposed on one of the
support bases 14a, 14b, such that the rotating plates 10a, 10b are
disposed with respect to each other. As shown in FIG. 1, the
rotating plate 10a is disposed on the support base 14a and the
rotating plate 10b is disposed on the support base 14b. In this
embodiment, the rotating plates 10a, 10b are disposed at upper and
lower positions with respect to each other. In other words, when
the powder gathering apparatus 1 is disposed on a plane 3, the
rotating shafts R1, R2 of the rotating plates 10a, 10b are
perpendicular to the plane 3.
Each of the rotating plates 10a, 10b comprises at least one
spherical member 100 and the spherical member 100 protrudes from
the rotating plates 10a, 10b. It should be noted that the number of
the spherical members 100 may be determined according to practical
applications and the invention is not limited to the embodiment
shown in the figure. A material of the spherical member 100 may be,
but not limited to, stainless steel, iron or zirconia. Furthermore,
a surface of the spherical member 100 may be smooth or rough
according to practical applications. As shown in FIG. 4, each of
the rotating plates 10a, 10b may comprise two plate bodies 102,
104. In this embodiment, the plate bodies 102, 104 may be connected
to or separated from each other in a direction indicated by double
headed arrow A, such that the spherical member 100 is rotatably
sandwiched in between the plate bodies 102, 104.
As shown in FIG. 3, each of the rotating plates 10a, 10b may
comprise a plurality of rails 106a, 106b, 106c and a plurality of
spherical members 100, and each of the rails 106a, 106b, 106c
comprises at least one spherical member 100. It should be noted
that FIG. 3 illustrates three rails for describing the features of
the invention and the invention is not limited to the embodiment.
The invention may dispose one or more rails according to practical
applications. Still further, the number of the spherical members
disposed on each rail may be determined according to practical
applications. In this embodiment, the rails 106a, 106b, 106c of the
rotating plates 10a, 10b correspond to each other, such that the
spherical members 100 of the rotating plates 10a, 10b also
correspond to each other. In another embodiment, the rails 106a,
106b, 106c of the rotating plates 10a, 10b may be staggered with
each other, such that the spherical members 100 of the rotating
plates 10a, 10b may also be staggered with each other.
In this embodiment, the driving mechanism 12 may comprise two
driving modules 122a, 122b, wherein the driving module 122a is
configured to drive each of the rails 106a, 106b, 106c of the
rotating plate 10a to rotate clockwise or counterclockwise, the
driving module 122b is configured to drive each of the rails 106a,
106b, 106c of the rotating plate 10b to rotate clockwise or
counterclockwise, and the rotating directions of the rails 106a,
106b, 106c may be identical or different. In an embodiment, the
rails 106a, 106b, 106c may rotate clockwise. In another embodiment,
the rails 106a, 106b, 106c may rotate counterclockwise. In another
embodiment, the rails 106a, 106c may rotate clockwise and the rail
106b may rotate counterclockwise. In another embodiment, the rails
106a, 106c may rotate counterclockwise and the rail 106b may rotate
clockwise. In this embodiment, each of the driving modules 122a,
122b of the driving mechanism 12 may comprise a plurality of
rollers 120 and each of the rails 106a, 106b, 106c is driven to
rotate by at least two rollers 120. As shown in FIG. 3, the rollers
120 may be disposed at the back of the rotating plates 10a, 10b and
the driving modules 122a, 122b may drive the rollers 120 to rotate
by a motor or other transmitting devices, so as to drive the rails
106a, 106b, 106c to rotate. Furthermore, the driving modules 122a,
122b may use a control unit to control the rollers 120 to rotate in
wireless manner, so as to drive the rails 106a, 106b, 106c to
rotate. Still further, the invention may use a button cell battery
to be a power supply module of the roller 120, wherein the power
supply module may supply power for a driving motor of the roller
120 to drive the roller 120 to rotate, so as to drive the rails
106a, 106b, 106c to rotate. Moreover, the invention may drive the
rails 106a, 106b, 106c to rotate by conventional magnetic-levitated
control technology.
The route of the aforesaid rollers 120 may be controlled by
conventional manner. For example, the rollers 120 may be disposed
on another set of rails and move along the rails, but is not so
limited. The route of the rails may be circular, such as, but not
limited to, a circle. In an embodiment, the aforesaid rollers may
move on another set of circular rails. Different rollers 120 may
move on different circular rails with different sizes and the
circular rails may be concentric rails.
In this embodiment, the rails 106a, 106b, 106c may be concentric
rails. In another embodiment, the rails 106a, 106b, 106c may form
one or more concentric circles according to practical applications.
Furthermore, the rails 106a, 106b, 106c may be circular, such as
circle, ellipse, plum-shaped, other regular shapes or irregular
shapes.
The driving mechanism 12 may further comprise a driving module 121,
wherein the driving module 121 is configured to drive at least one
of the rotating plates 10a, 10b to move, such that the rotating
plates 10a, 10b get close to or away from each other. As shown in
FIGS. 1 and 2, the driving module 121 of the driving mechanism 12
may drive the rotating plate 10a to move upward and downward, such
that the rotating plates 10a, 10b get close to or away from each
other. Furthermore, the driving modules 122a, 122b of the driving
mechanism 12 may drive the rotating plates 10a, 10b to rotate.
In this embodiment, the driving mechanism 12 comprises at least one
component capable of implementing the aforesaid function, such as,
but not limited to, control unit, control rod, motor, gear, driving
belt, roller, or the combination thereof. The driving mechanism 12
of the invention may comprise two or more than two types of driving
devices for implementing different driving functions, wherein the
driving device may be any conventional driving device and it will
not be depicted herein.
The powder gathering apparatus 1 of the invention is configured to
gather powders from a prepreg or a copper-free laminate. It should
be noted that FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a sample 5 to represent the
prepreg or the copper-free laminate. First, when the rotating
plates 10a, 10b are away from each other, an operator may hold and
place the sample 5 between the rotating plates 10a, 10b, as shown
in FIG. 1. Then, the operator may control the driving module 121 of
the driving mechanism 12 to drive the support base 14a and the
rotating plate 10a to move downward, such that the rotating plates
10a, 10b get close to each other and the sample 5 is sandwiched in
between the rotating plates 10a, 10b, as shown in FIG. 2. At this
time, at least one protruding surface of the spherical member 100
of each rotating plate 10a, 10b contacts the sample 5. Then, the
operator may control the driving modules 122a, 122b of the driving
mechanism 12 to drive the rails 106a, 106b, 106c of the rotating
plates 10a, 10b to rotate, such that the spherical members 100 of
the rotating plates 10a, 10b rub the sample 5, so as to obtain
powders from the sample 5. After gathering powders, the operator
may control the driving module 121 of the driving mechanism 12 to
drive the support base 14a and the rotating plate 10a to move
upward, such that the rotating plates 10a, 10b get away from each
other, as shown in FIG. 1. Then, the operator may remove the sample
5 and place another sample 5 between the rotating plates 10a, 10b.
It should be noted that the control principle of the aforesaid
driving modules 121, 122a, 122b of the driving mechanism 12 may be
implemented by conventional electromechanical technology, so it
will not be depicted herein.
In an embodiment of the invention, the aforesaid sample 5 may be a
prepreg. In another embodiment of the invention, the aforesaid
sample 5 may be a copper-free laminate.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the sieve 16 is disposed in the powder
container 18, the powder container 18 is disposed below the prepreg
or the copper-free laminate (i.e. the sample 5), and the air
drawing mechanism 20 is disposed in the powder container 18. In
this embodiment, the powder container 18 may be disposed in the
support base 14b. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3, the rotating
plate 10b comprises a plurality of holes 108. Accordingly, the
powders coming off the sample 5 will pass through the holes 108 and
then enter the powder container 18. The sieve 16 can filter the
powders to remove impurities (e.g. broken fiber fabric). In
practical applications, the sieve 16 may have different meshes,
wherein the meshes may be between 20 and 100 and, preferably, may
be between 20 and 60. The powder container 18 may be drawn out from
the support base 14b, so as to take out the powders from the powder
container 18 for inspection. The air drawing mechanism 20 may be an
air drawing motor device configured to provide an active airflow,
so as to draw the powders into the powder container 18
effectively.
In this embodiment, when the rotating plates 10a, 10b are rotating,
the abrasion rate of the spherical member 100 can be reduced since
the spherical member 100 can rotate with respect to the rotating
plates 10a, 10b. Furthermore, when the rotation directions of two
adjacent rails are reversed, the efficiency of gathering powders
from the prepreg or the copper-free laminate can be further
enhanced.
Referring to FIG. 5, FIG. 5 is schematic view illustrating a powder
gathering apparatus 1' according to another embodiment of the
invention. The main difference between the powder gathering
apparatus 1' and the aforesaid powder gathering apparatus 1 is that
the powder gathering apparatus 1' further comprises a hanging
mechanism 22. As shown in FIG. 5, the hanging mechanism 22 is
configured to hang the prepreg or the copper-free laminate (i.e.
the sample 5) between the rotating plates 10a, 10b. Accordingly,
the operator need not hold the sample 5 between the rotating plates
10a, 10b.
Referring to FIG. 6, FIG. 6 is a side view illustrating the
rotating plates 10a, 10b according to another embodiment of the
invention. As shown in FIG. 6, each of the rotating plates 10a, 10b
may comprise at least one fixing member 110, wherein the fixing
member 110 is configured to fix the spherical member 100 on the
rotating plates 10a, 10b. In this embodiment, the fixing member 110
may be a screw or other fixing members. When the rotating plates
10a, 10b are rotating, the efficiency of gathering powders can be
enhanced since the spherical members 100 are fixed with respect to
the rotating plates 10a, 10b.
Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, FIG. 7 is a top view illustrating the
rotating plates 10a, 10b according to another embodiment of the
invention and FIG. 8 is a side view illustrating the spherical
members 100 of the rotating plates 10a, 10b shown in FIG. 7 being
staggered with each other. In this embodiment, the rails 106a,
106b, 106c of the rotating plates 10a, 10b may be staggered with
each other, such that the spherical members 100 of the rotating
plates 10a, 10b are also staggered with each other, as shown in
FIGS. 7 and 8. For example, the radii of the rails 106a, 106b, 106c
of the rotating plate 10a may be larger than the radii of the rails
106a, 106b, 106c of the rotating plate 10b, such that the spherical
members 100 of the rotating plates 10a, 10b are staggered with each
other (as shown in FIG. 8) while the aforesaid sample 5 is
sandwiched in between the rotating plates 10a, 10b. Accordingly,
the contact areas between the spherical members 100 and the prepreg
or the copper-free laminate (i.e. the sample 5) can be increased,
so as to enhance the efficiency of gathering powders. It should be
noted that the radii of the rails 106a, 106b, 106c of the rotating
plate 10a may also be smaller than the radii of the rails 106a,
106b, 106c of the rotating plate 10b according to practical
applications.
As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, FIG. 9 is a schematic view illustrating
a powder gathering apparatus 1'' according to another embodiment of
the invention, wherein two rotating plates 10a, 10b get away from
each other, and FIG. 10 is a schematic view illustrating the
rotating plates 10a, 10b shown in FIG. 9 getting close to each
other. The main difference between the powder gathering apparatus
1'' and the aforesaid powder gathering apparatus 1 is that the
rotating plates 10a, 10b and the support bases 14a, 14b of the
powder gathering apparatus 1'' are disposed at left and right
positions with respect to each other. In other words, when the
powder gathering apparatus 1'' is disposed on a plane 3, the
rotating shafts R1, R2 of the rotating plates 10a, 10b are parallel
to the plane 3, as shown in FIG. 9. In this embodiment, the
rotating plate 10b may not comprise the holes 108 shown in FIG. 3.
Compared to the aforesaid powder gathering apparatus 1, the powder
gathering apparatus 1'' can prevent the powders of the prepreg or
the copper-free laminate (i.e. the sample 5) from stuffing the gap
between the rotating plate and the spherical member, resulting in
malfunction of the apparatus.
The driving mechanism 12 may comprise two driving modules 121a,
121b, wherein the driving module 121a is configured to drive the
rotating plate 10a to move and the driving module 121b is
configured to drive the rotating plate 10b to move, such that the
rotating plates 10a, 10b get close to or away from each other. As
shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the driving modules 121a, 121b of the
driving mechanism 12 may drive the rotating plates 10a, 10b to move
rightward and leftward, such that the rotating plates 10a, 10b get
close to or away from each other. Furthermore, the driving modules
122a, 122b of the driving mechanism 12 may drive the rotating
plates 10a, 10b to rotate. Moreover, the powder container 18 may be
disposed below the rotating plates 10a, 10b.
The powder gathering apparatus 1'' of the invention is configured
to gather powders from a prepreg or a copper-free laminate. It
should be noted that FIGS. 9 and 10 illustrate a sample 5 to
represent the prepreg or the copper-free laminate. First, when the
rotating plates 10a, 10b are away from each other, an operator may
hold and place the sample 5 between the rotating plates 10a, 10b,
as shown in FIG. 9. Then, the operator may control the driving
module 121a of the driving mechanism 12 to drive the support base
14a and the rotating plate 10a to move rightward and control the
driving module 121b of the driving mechanism 12 to drive the
support base 14b and the rotating plate 10b to move leftward, such
that the rotating plates 10a, 10b get close to each other and the
sample 5 is sandwiched in between the rotating plates 10a, 10b, as
shown in FIG. 10. At this time, at least one protruding surface of
the spherical member 100 of each rotating plate 10a, 10b contacts
the sample 5. Then, the operator may control the driving modules
122a, 122b of the driving mechanism 12 to drive the rotating plates
10a, 10b to rotate, such that the spherical members 100 of the
rotating plates 10a, 10b rub the sample 5, so as to obtain powders
from the sample 5. After gathering powders, the operator may
control the driving module 121a of the driving mechanism 12 to
drive the support base 14a and the rotating plate 10a to move
leftward and control the driving module 121b of the driving
mechanism 12 to drive the support base 14b and the rotating plate
10b to move rightward, such that the rotating plates 10a, 10b get
away from each other, as shown in FIG. 9. Then, the operator may
remove the sample 5 and place another sample 5 between the rotating
plates 10a, 10b. It should be noted that the control principle of
the aforesaid driving modules 121a, 121b, 122a, 122b of the driving
mechanism 12 may be implemented by conventional electromechanical
technology, so it will not be depicted herein.
Referring to FIG. 11, FIG. 11 is a top view illustrating four
rotating plates 10a, 10b according to another embodiment of the
invention. In this embodiment, the invention may use four rotating
plates 10a, 10b to gather powders from the prepreg or the
copper-free laminate (i.e. the sample 5), so as to enhance the
efficiency of gathering powders.
Referring to FIG. 12, FIG. 12 is a schematic view illustrating a
powder gathering apparatus 1''' according to another embodiment of
the invention. The main difference between the powder gathering
apparatus 1''' and the aforesaid powder gathering apparatus 1'' is
that the powder gathering apparatus 1''' further comprises a
hanging mechanism 22. As shown in FIG. 12, the hanging mechanism 22
is configured to hang the prepreg or the copper-free laminate (i.e.
the sample 5) between the rotating plates 10a, 10b. Accordingly,
the operator need not hold the sample 5 between the rotating plates
10a, 10b.
As mentioned in the above, the driving mechanism of the powder
gathering apparatus of the invention can drive the rotating plates
to get close to each other, so as to clamp the prepreg or the
copper-free laminate between the rotating plates. Then, the driving
mechanism can drive the rotating plates to rotate, such that the
spherical members of the rotating plates rub the prepreg or the
copper-free laminate to obtain powders from the prepreg or the
copper-free laminate. Accordingly, the powder gathering apparatus
of the invention can gather powders from the prepreg or the
copper-free laminate automatically and efficiently. Therefore, the
invention can save manpower effectively and gather powders
efficiently.
It should be noted that the invention may also dispose acicular
members on the rotating plates to gather powders from the prepreg
or the copper-free laminate. However, when the acicular members rub
the prepreg, the acicular members may break the prepreg, such that
the rubbable area may decrease as the rubbing time increases.
Accordingly, the invention uses the spherical members to gather
powders from the prepreg or the copper-free laminate, so as to
maintain the rubbable area and then enhance the efficiency of
gathering powders. Furthermore, compared to the acicular member,
the spherical member of the invention can be replaced much more
easily.
Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous
modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made
while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the
above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes
and bounds of the appended claims.
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